


In Sickness and in Health

by idola



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-12-03 01:05:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11521314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idola/pseuds/idola
Summary: Judar catches a cold when Hakuryuu is supposed to be studying for college midterms.He's a stubborn patient and hates being taken care of, but it's worth it.





	In Sickness and in Health

**Author's Note:**

> i had to get this out of my system i have to write something cheesy every now and then or ill die

Hakuryuu had class late on Fridays. When he got home, he was normally greeted with Judar talking nonstop about anything from a shitty level in a game to his annoying coworkers that he probably didn’t hate as much as his complaining would imply.

So it was very unusual to come back after a long day in the lab working and see him acting… well, subdued.

“Hey,” Hakuryuu said.

“Hey,” Judar mumbled in return.

Hakuryuu frowned. He took off his shoes and walked over to where Judar was sitting on their apartment’s sole couch, covered in a soft blanket and playing some game or other that was well past its prime.

It wasn’t like he’d never seen Judar lounging on the couch before - they’d lived together for a year now and it wasn’t rare at all. It was how low-energy he looked that struck Hakuryuu as strange.

“Long day?” Hakuryuu asked. It was a pretty pointless question when it came to Judar, since he was never really bothered with work and didn’t have ‘long days’ as a result. But it was a friendly question, and after being in class working on an important project all day, pointless polite questions came naturally.

Judar shrugged and left it at that.

That too was unusual.

Hakuryuu put his school bag away. He’d do his work later. For now he was curious what’d put Judar in a bad mood.

He sat by Judar, who didn’t pause his game to look at him. A little part of Hakuryuu was offended by that, wondering briefly if he’d done something to upset Judar, but he couldn’t think of a time he’d actually upset Judar in his life. For being one of the most petty people Hakuryuu knew, he was hard to upset for real. He was curious what had done it.

“You _did_ have work today, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. Pretty boring.”

Same as usual then.

“What do you want for dinner?”

Judar yawned. “Not really hungry.”

“Did you already eat?”

Judar sighed, annoyed at the mini-interrogation. “I’ll eat later.”

He could be stubborn, that was for sure.

When Judar was annoyed, everyone knew it. When he was happy, he was loud. Those were easy. Judar was comfortable in being loud. But when he was feeling down he shut up like a clam, somewhere between tired and moody, and tended to neglect mentioning what exactly he was upset about until it passed.

Trying to understand someone with such fickle moods was something Hakuryuu’s friends had given up on for the most part, but Hakuryuu did want to understand, even if getting Judar to talk about himself seriously was usually like pulling teeth.

“I’ll make something,” Hakuryuu offered.

“Don’t bother,” Judar said.

“…Your voice is scratchy.” 

“Kinda.”

“Are you sick?” Hakuryuu asked.

“No,” Judar said. The tension of wondering what had been major enough to put Judar in a bad mood vanished in an instant when he coughed.

Hakuryuu laughed. So he was just upset about a little cough after all. “You’re sick.”

“Am not.”

Hakuryuu rolled his eyes.

Judar _hated_ being sick.

He was lucky that he tended towards healthy - he acted like a cat when he was hurt. Asking for help was the last thing he’d do even if he were dying. It was somewhere between being funny for how stubborn it was and being a pain because Hakuryuu did not, in fact, think that Judar’s suffering was funny. But he wasn’t deathly ill if he was playing video games instead of resting. It looked like he was just in a bad mood because of the sniffles.

If he’d just say he had a cold and rest, Hakuryuu would let it go and help him be comfortable. But Judar was so dramatic when he had a cold that Hakuryuu always ended up teasing him instead.

He never said he wasn’t a _little_ mean-spirited.

“I suppose you’re fine with doing the laundry if you’re feeling well,” Hakuryuu said. “Yours is piling up.”

“I’ll do it tomorrow.”

“But you’re feeling fine now, right? No point in putting it off.”

Judar groaned. “I wanna beat this level.”

“You’ve beat that whole game twenty times. You already know what’s at the end of the level.”

“Huh? Since when did you pay attention to games?”

“Just look at it. Its graphics are ten years old at best.”

“Seriously…? It’s been ten years?” Judar picked up the case and squinted at the back. “Huh… it’s been sixteen years.” He looked to Hakuryuu. “Sixteen whole years,” he repeated.

“Told you so. How would I not recognize the background music after that long?”

Judar coughed again. It sounded pretty nasty and, now that he was looking, Judar really didn’t look too good.

Hakuryuu thought back to morning, then back to last night, trying to pinpoint a time when Judar looked like he might be getting sick. Nothing stood out.

That was probably because he didn’t come back last night until the library closed, which was after Judar already went to sleep, and left in the morning before he woke up.

Guilt rose in his chest. Judar never complained about it, but not noticing that his boyfriend of three years was getting sick for prioritizing his already high grades over spending time together was pretty low.

At the same time, he was relieved that Judar just so happened to get sick on a weekend. He wouldn’t have to miss any classes to take care of him.

Hakuryuu’s phone buzzed in his pocket. A text from Alibaba.

_Midterms are coming up soon! You still coming over to cram?_

Hakuryuu texted back a quick _no thanks, I’ll study at home_ before turning his attention back to Judar. 

“Who’s that?”

“Alibaba.”

“Oh. Gonna go study more?” Judar asked, attention already back to his game.

“Not today,” Hakuryuu said.

“That’s rare.”

He wasn’t wrong. Hakuryuu got stressed without preparing properly for midterms and other important tests or responsibilities. But he’d been studying all week. He could at least get Judar in bed before looking over today’s notes from lab.

Hakuryuu moved Judar’s bangs away from his forehead with difficulty - his hair was stuck to his face with sweat, likely the result of his heavy blanket… no, it was from the heat of his forehead.

Judar sighed at the feeling of Hakuryuu’s cool hand and leaned into it.

Fever. Definitely a fever. Not a low one, either, if his hand was comfortingly cool.

He should have known. If it’d just been a cough, Judar probably would’ve been complaining about it, or maybe coughed on Hakuryuu when he teased him for getting sick.

Judar wasn’t very good at helping Hakuryuu when he got sick, but he at least tried. It was the least Hakuryuu could do to return the favor.

Helping in a way that didn’t irritate Judar was more difficult than helping him anyone should be, but the added challenge made it fun. In all their years of knowing each other, Hakuryuu understood Judar fairly well.

The first rule of helping him was to make sure he didn’t realize he was being helped. This was crucial. Judar would lock himself in a room to die long before he let someone take him to the doctor, so being subtle was necessary if he wanted to help at all.

The second rule was, of course, actually helping. Judar _hated_ being sicker than just having a runny nose, and Hakuryuu didn’t plan on making him hate it more.

When he was a kid, Hakuryuu took care of Hakuei when she got the flu once. He was young so most of his ‘help’ involved Seishun showing him what to do and how to do it in Hakuei’s absence, but Hakuryuu had never forgotten the way Seishun showed him to prepare a cold cloth  
and make dinner for the ill. He removed his hand from Judar’s hot forehead and got up.

Ideally, he would take Judar’s temperature and go from there. There was no way that was happening, though, so Hakuryuu focused on things Judar would let him do if he played his cards right. Hakuryuu took pork from the fridge and set it to cure for dinner, then got a glass of ice water. He handed it to Judar.

“Don’t want it,” Judar said.

“Water is good for you. If you get dehydrated your lips will get crusty.”

Judar wrinkled his nose. “That’d never happen.”

“Would too,” Hakuryuu said. He took a sip of the water. “It’s a small sacrifice to keep looking good, don’t you think?”

“…Fine. Give that to me.”

Hakuryuu smiled as Judar finished the glass.

Judar liked to think he’d outgrown his childhood gullibility. That was only half true. He didn’t fall for other people’s tricks anymore, but he trusted Hakuryuu enough that he let his guard down and fell for more than he’d ever admit.

A simple glass of water wasn’t enough to cure a high fever, but it was a good start. Hakuryuu’s phone buzzed again.

_Did something come up? You said you’d come earlier._

Hakuryuu glanced at Judar. He’d like to think that he would have skipped on Alibaba’s study session today even if Judar weren’t sick, but in reality he probably would have gone. He didn’t always get along with Alibaba, but they were both seniors and had the workload to show for it. Studying with Alibaba made more sense than studying at home since Judar who had very little interest in Hakuryuu’s studies aside from being pleased that he was the type to work hard.

 _Yes,_ Hakuryuu texted back. _Judar’s sick so I’m going to study here today._

Alibaba’s response came quickly. _Didn’t know he could get sick._

Hakuryuu rolled his eyes. _Everyone gets sick sometimes, idiot._

Judar’s sigh brought Hakuryuu’s attention back to him. “I hate this level. Whose idea were these stupid gravity physics…”

“Maybe you should play a different game.”

“No, I wanna play this one,” Judar said. He readjusted his position to lean on Hakuryuu’s shoulder.

Hakuryuu was pretty sure he’d just never given the other ones a chance. He was very particular about all sorts of things, including games. Seemingly arbitrary criteria decided whether he loved or hated them.

Worse than games was food. Judar didn’t like foods that were too sour, too spicy, too thick, or too bland. He refused to eat anything with more than two distinct vegetables in it but didn’t usually notice when they were chopped up and hidden with ground pork.

Judar was the pickiest person on the planet, but he had to eat _some_ vegetables, and Hakuryuu was pleased with the progress he’d made in shoving them down Judar’s throat so far. His complexion had improved, too, though it was impossible to see now that he was sick.

Hakuryuu wrapped an arm around Judar’s back - Judar lived on touch, leaning in closer, but he was so hot that Hakuryuu regretted it immediately after.

He should really get his temperature taken. Maybe if he fell asleep Hakuryuu would get the chance.

Judar groaned when he died in his game again.

“You’re not very good at this for having it for the past sixteen years,” Hakuryuu said.

“Fifteen tops.”

“The past _fifteen_ years, then. I’m sure an extra year of practice would make you an expert.”

“Shut it,” Judar said. “I’m better at it than you are. Just try.” He shoved the controller in Hakuryuu’s hand.

Ignoring the fact that Judar was better at games by default, having two completely functional hands and all, Hakuryuu’s artificial arm was stuck around him. It took some gymnastics but Hakuryuu finally found a way to hold it in both hands without needing to shove Judar away.

He was sure that it would look strange to anyone who saw them, but if Judar was comfortable, it was fine. And if he put down the game he might be able to get some sleep.

With that in mind, Hakuryuu humored him and tried playing. Judar was right - he was absolutely terrible at it. He kept forgetting how to jump and falling to his death.

“Told you so,” Judar said. He coughed every time he laughed and being so close to him and his overheated blanket was making Hakuryuu sweaty too, but they hadn’t spent time together in a while now. Even if being so bad at a simple game was frustrating, talking to Judar was fun. It’d always been fun.

He’d been enjoying himself enough that when Judar finally fell into a shallow sleep, breathing in tune with the repetitive song coming from the TV, Hakuryuu was a little disappointed. He paused the game and slowly untangled himself from Judar, trying to avoid waking him up.

First things first - the couch was not the ideal place to rest. The bedroom was. Its temperature was more consistent than the living room and it was farther from the kitchen, meaning he was less likely to wake Judar up cooking if he moved him.

His phone buzzed again. _How sick is he? Morgiana says she’s worried._

Hakuryuu quirked an eyebrow. Judar and Morgiana were surprisingly similar, despite outwardly being opposites, and once she got past Judar’s tendency to relentlessly tease people he wanted to get to know she warmed up to him quickly. She was still too shy to get his number, though, if she was getting Alibaba to ask Hakuryuu about Judar instead of asking him herself.

_He’s fine, just stubborn._

Hakuryuu waited until he was certain Judar was sleeping deeply to try moving him. 

With a blanket still wrapped tightly around him, he was easy to pick up. Despite being a little taller, Judar was lighter for his lack of muscle and proper eating habits. As long as he didn’t struggle, bringing him the short distance to their room was no problem at all.

Judar did wake up when Hakuryuu rearranged his blanket on their bed, but not enough to talk. He just watched Hakuryuu silently with half-lidded eyes as he searched for a thermometer. 

As long as Judar didn’t remember it the next time he woke up, it was fine. Hakuryuu was careful not to push the thermometer far enough that he’d try swallowing it in his half asleep state. It beeped after a minute, and when he removed it the display read 104.

High fever indeed. 

“I’m going to get you some more water,” Hakuryuu said.

“Don’t need it,” Judar said. Getting his temperature taken was enough of a reason to wake up and be stubborn for him.

“I’m sure. But water makes naps better. Did you know that?”

Judar looked doubtful, but when presented with a glass of water and medicine, drank the water.

“Take that, too,” Hakuryuu said.

“I don’t need it.”

Hakuryuu ran a list of excuses Judar might fall for through his head, but at this point, the most obvious one was the most convincing. “It’ll make you feel better,” he said. “If you don’t take it you might be sick forever. Do you really want that?”

“I’m not sick,” Judar argued.

“Yes, yes. How could I forget,” Hakuryuu said. “I’ll leave it here in case something happens and you do get sick, then.”

“I won’t, but okay.”

Hakuryuu rolled his eyes. “I’m going to start dinner, okay?”

Judar nodded.

Hakuryuu took his time cooking. Cooking something healthy that Judar liked was hard but rewarding. Judar hadn’t been sick since moving in, and Hakuryuu had no idea what comfort foods he did like, so he was making what he personally liked, changing the recipe here and there to suit Judar’s tastes.

Judar wouldn’t touch century eggs and didn’t like anything with too much ginger or onion. He was a lot better with lettuce now than when he first moved in. He’d even come to like carrots a little. Cooking to his tastes wasn’t difficult and Hakuryuu finished preparing ingredients in no time.

He looked into the bedroom for a moment - though the light from the sun had dimmed to nothing, Judar had forgotten to turn the lamp off and it was easy to see that he’d fallen asleep.

Hakuryuu walked in quietly to take the now empty glass to refill in case he woke up. He’d taken his medicine, too, from the look of it. Judar could be such a child, willing to take medicine only if no one knew he took it.

Between stirring dinner and reading over his lab notes, time passed quickly. 

It was an important lab, and questions about the results would undoubtedly be on the midterm. Organic chemistry didn’t come to him naturally - actually, if it came naturally to anyone, he’d like to hear about it. It was all around an unpleasantly difficult course and no matter how much he thought he had his notes memorized there were always questions he was unsure of on tests.

Alibaba’s major, business, was much easier from where he was standing. But there was only a little longer left until he was done. He could stand to work hard for the few months he had left.

Nevermind that he’d worked equally as hard every other year in school. He wasn’t very good at slacking.

When the congree finished cooking, Hakuryuu made a small portion for Judar. He wasn’t sure how hungry he’d be after waking up or if he’d refuse to eat at all for now, but it’d keep for whenever he was ready to eat.

He was still sleeping when Hakuryuu checked on him again. He set Judar’s bowl on his bedside table. 

Hakuryuu ate and looked through last week’s notes at his desk while Judar slept. He moved often, mumbled every now and then, a lighter sleeper than ever. It didn’t take long for him to sit up, disoriented.

“I made dinner,” Hakuryuu said. “Beside you. I just put it there, so it’s still warm.”

“…What is it?” 

“Have you never had any before? That’s surprising. Porridge is what you’re supposed to eat when you’re sick. It’s good for you. Try some.”

Judar moved his spoon around in it, likely trying to identify all the vegetables that might be inside before trying it. “It’s just rice and meat?”

“Mostly, yes.”

Judar didn’t trust the word ‘mostly’ when it came to food, but he tried it anyway. His face told Hakuryuu that it was better than he thought it’d be. But he still prepared himself before his second bite.

“You don’t need to look so suspicious,” Hakuryuu said, amused. “I wouldn’t put something you hate in when you’re sick.”

“I’m not… urgh.” Judar’s hand flew to his mouth and he gulped. He scrunched up his face in disgust.

He moved to Judar to take his food out of the way. If he was throwing up, he was definitely sick. But there was no reason to tease him for that.

Throughout the rest of the night, Hakuryuu stayed next to Judar instead of on the other side of the room, and followed him to the bathroom to hold back his hair when he needed to get rid of his dinner.

Hakuryuu brushed some of Judar’s hair behind his ears and held the rest of it behind him. He’d long since failed step one - trying not to hurt Judar’s pride by helping too obviously - but more importantly than that, Judar prized his hair more than his pride. Hakuryuu waited for him to finish, holding his hair patiently until he finished getting rid of the little he’d managed to eat of his dinner.

“I’ll clean,” Hakuryuu said. “You can go back to sleep.” He wet a towel and handed it to Judar to wipe his face with.

Judar stuck out his tongue when his face was clean. “Gross.”

“We have extra toothbrushes, so just throw your old one out once you’re done.”

Judar nodded. Too tired to argue about being babied, he just did what Hakuryuu said.

This was the first time Hakuryuu had ever seen him too sick to even argue. “I’m going to get some more medicine,” Hakuryuu said.

Judar didn’t respond, but when Hakuryuu brought him a new glass of icy water and some medicine, he took it obediently.

Hakuryuu motioned for him to go back to bed so he could clean, and he did so.

He had the bathroom cleaned before Judar had fallen back asleep, and lay beside him when he was done.

Between having classes late, studying, cooking, and cleaning, he was a little tired. It didn’t help that as soon as he lay down, Judar wrapped himself around him, face buried in Hakuryuu’s clothes, breathing in his scent. He wasn’t being subtle at all and in this moment reminded Hakuryuu more of a tired dog than a cat.

“You’re like a whole different person when you’re sick,” Hakuryuu said. He ran a hand through Judar’s messy hair. “But I prefer you when you’re feeling better.”

“Me too,” Judar said, though it was hard to tell for how scratchy his voice was. “Being sick sucks.”

Hakuryuu leaned in to kiss his cheek, or maybe his temple, but Judar pulled away.

“I just said being sick sucks, idiot.”

Hakuryuu smiled. No one would believe him if he said Judar had a sweet side, actively trying to avoid infecting him, but that was fine. Hakuryuu liked having Judar to himself sometimes. “When you feel better, then.”

Judar nodded. 

Judar fell asleep against him, rendering Hakuryuu unable to move. He’d wake Judar up if he moved to turn the light off, and he needed it dark.

He took the time to study on his phone, flipping through flashcards absentmindedly. He needed to study nucleophilic aromatic substitution more. He couldn’t remember it off the top of his head. Nitriles weren’t so bad.

His phone buzzed while he was considering the product of water and pentyl ethanoate in different various conditions.

_We’re finished over here! I think I’m gonna ace midterms. Good luck with yours!_

Hakuryuu occasionally wished he had Alibaba’s confidence, but overall it got him into more trouble than it was worth since he often thought he was ready before he really was. Then again, he never did have to study as hard as Hakuryuu to get good results.

Judar woke up at ten at night. He groaned at the light and waved an arm around in the wrong direction to find the lamp to turn it off in his half asleep state.

It took a moment for Hakuryuu to clear his mind of chemical reactions and focus on Judar even after he set his phone down. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” Judar said. He didn’t sound fine, but Hakuryuu hadn’t expected him to respond with a real answer anyway. 

“You should try having some more dinner.”

“Not hungry.”

“If you don’t eat, you won’t get any better.”

Judar made a face like he thought he’d just throw it up again. Hakuryuu felt his forehead.

No worse, but no better either.

“I’m going to get some more,” he said. “It’s fine if you don’t eat it, but at least try.”

Judar nodded. 

It didn’t take long to reheat.

Judar took a new bowl of it from Hakuryuu without complaining. He watched the steam rise absentmindedly, turning his spoon in it slowly. “Is this really what you’re supposed to eat when you’re sick?” Judar mumbled. “I’ve never seen it before.”

“It is,” Hakuryuu said. “Seishun showed me how to make it for my sister when I was younger. It always helped her feel better quickly.”

He felt a little bad that he hadn’t been able to make it for Judar, too, but the past was long gone now. There was no use regretting it when he could just make it for him when he got sick from now on.

“What time is it?” Judar asked.

“About ten thirty.”

“Friday?”

“Yeah. Friday. You should be better before the weekend’s over.”

“…You were gonna go in to work on a project or something tomorrow, right?” 

“I’m going to stay here.”

“Huh… that’s surprising.”

When Judar said it like that, the guilt from earlier multiplied. Even if Judar tried his best to sound nonchalant, there was no question that he’d rather Hakuryuu at least spend the weekend with him after being gone most of the week. They wouldn’t be dating if they didn’t enjoy each other’s company, but this past week and the weekend before he’d been at school more than he’d been at home.

That wasn’t good. Not at all. Judar finished his dinner and set the empty bowl on his nightstand, then yawned.

“I’ll be here more once I finish school,” Hakuryuu reassured him.

“No you won’t. You’ll just work overtime then.”

Hakuryuu frowned. “Why do you think that?”

“Because you’ll wanna be prove yourself to your boss or whatever, then get promoted or whatever, then go there all the time ‘cause you’re good at it. You’re like that, you know?”

He… wasn’t wrong.

“Sorry,” Hakuryuu said.

“I don’t mind. I wouldn’t still be here if I did. It just gets a little boring alone sometimes.”

If he didn’t mind he wouldn’t be talking about it. But it’d taken a fever to get out of him, so Hakuryuu was sure he tried very hard to not mind it.

It would’ve been simple if he’d just said it bothered him in the first place. Then he could have fixed it sooner. Hakuryuu put his hands on Judar’s face so he couldn’t turn away and go back to sleep yet.

“You are so stubborn.”

Judar’s stubborn expression was back, though it wasn’t very threatening at all with his fever-flushed face. “So?”

“We’ve been together for three years,” Hakuryuu said. “And we’ve known each other since we were too young to remember.”

Judar looked away. With Hakuryuu’s hand’s holding onto him, that meant looking down.

“So… it wouldn’t kill us to talk more.” He moved closer, bumping foreheads with Judar. He could still easily feel his fever through his hair. “I want to talk more. Sorry for acting like I care more about my grades than you. I don’t. They just stress me out more.”

“Let gooo,” Judar whined. When Hakuryuu did, he shook his head. “You make it sound like… like… ugh!” His happy face betrayed his words completely. 

“Glad you’re feeling good enough to argue,” Hakuryuu said, smiling. Judar was fixing his hair, an embarrassed habit of his, pretending like Hakuryuu had ruined it when it should have been obvious his fever and sweat ruined it first. He was looking forward to seeing Judar freak out once he saw how bad he looked in the mirror. He was particular about his appearance even now, despite that Hakuryuu had already seen him in just about every shade of tired imaginable. Adding a few shades of sick to that hardly made a difference. He didn’t have to be model pretty all the time, contrary to what he seemed to think. Hakuryuu liked him regardless.

Because what was important wasn’t how good he looked or, as Alibaba liked to imply, how good he was in bed (though Hakuryuu very much appreciated those things, too). It was that he was happy to be by Hakuryuu’s side no matter what.

Hakuryuu kissed him on impulse, completely forgetting Judar’s earlier warning until he repeated it.

“You’re gonna get sick,” Judar said.

“It’s okay. I can stand to take a few sick days.”


End file.
